This story was told to a friend of mine by his father. My friend was 10 years old when he first heard the story and is 20 years old now. He grew up in northern Oklahoma and his family moved to Maryland when he was eight. His father, his younger brother and he were on a road trip and my friend and his brother asked their father to tell them a story to help them pass the time. My friend does not recall what his father said about where he heard the story from, but it goes more or less as follows: Once upon a time (chuckles), there were two brothers. These two brothers loved to play outdoors and one day, as it was getting on into evening, they wandered into a graveyard and met another little boy who wanted to play with them. So, they played with the boy for a while and eventually the little boy asked if the brothers would like to [see] the castle. The brothers agreed to go along and off they went following behind the little boy. The boy took them to a castle in the middle of the graveyard and took them inside to a room with big mirror on one wall. (In a really weak and timid voice:) “Follow me,” said the boy. “Let me show you where I live.” (Begins speaking more intensely:) At that, he stepped through the mirror and into the castle on the other side and disappeared around a corner. The two brothers shared a concerned look, but in the end stepped into the mirror and came out the other side. Whereas the castle they had been brought to at first seemed abandoned for centuries, this castle felt and looked as though it were currently inhabited. (Speaking with a sense of awe or wonderment:) They wandered out of the bedroom and after a time found them selves in a dinning room with a table set for many people and food laid out like a feast. At that table sat a number of ornately dressed adults. Some in very fine robes or very flashy dresses, all enjoying the feast and each others' company. (Changes to a concerned or anxious tone:) The brothers tried to ask the person nearest them what the occasion of the feast was , but the person utterly ignored [them]. In fact, when one of the brothers tried to tug at the adult’s sleeve he found that his hand went straight through it.
I found myself in the dining room observing everything and everyone. The dining room was set up to have an intimate feel to it. There were fresh flowers on every table and each table had some privacy. The
Daniel Boone was a 16 year-old boy who lived in Pennsylvania, which at the time still belonged to England. He always loved hunting and exploring. They moved to Yadkin Valley, in North Carolina. Daniel and a friend of his discussed over a campfire the beautiful land of Kentucky, and how it was full of rich farming soil and lots of deer, black bears, and other small animals for skin and food. They decided to travel there. Daniel brought 5 men with him to hunt and collect skins. One day while hunting, Daniel and his brother-in-law got captured by Indians. They told them to leave Kentucky and never come back. They weren’t scared, but the other 4 men were, so they went back to Pennsylvania. Two years later, they decided to go back to Pennsylvania to sell the skins they had collected, and when they were almost home, they got attacked by Indians and got their skins stolen. In the end, they were just happy they got to explore and live in the wild for 2 years. Two years later, Daniel decided he had been away from Kentucky for long enough and brought his family and six other families with h...
“It was a large, beautiful room, rich and picturesque in the soft, dim light which the maid had turned low. She went and stood at an open window and looked out upon the deep tangle of the garden below. All the mystery and witchery of the night seemed to have gathered there amid the perfumes and the dusky and tortuous outlines of flowers and foliage. She was seeking herself and finding herself in just such sweet half-darkness which met her moods. But the voices were not soothing that came to her from the darkness and the sky above and the stars. They jeered and sounded mourning notes without promise, devoid even of hope. She turned back into the room and began to walk to and fro, down its whole length, without stopping, without resting. She carried in her hands a thin handkerchief, which she tore into ribbons, rolled into a ball, and flung from her. Once she stopped, and taking off her wedding ring, flung it upon the carpet. When she saw it lying there she stamped her heel upon it, striving to crush it. But her small boot heel did not make an indenture, not a mark upon the glittering circlet.
It is commonly believed that the only way to overcome difficult situations is by taking initiative in making a positive change, although this is not always the case. The theme of the memoir the Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is that the changes made in children’s lives when living under desperate circumstances do not always yield positive results. In the book, Jeannette desperately tries to improve her life and her family’s life as a child, but she is unable to do so despite her best efforts. This theme is portrayed through three significant literary devices in the book: irony, symbolism and allusion.
Rex Walls While growing up in life, children need their parents to teach them and lead them on the path to a successful future. In the Glass Castle Rex Walls, Jeannette’s father, neglects to take care of his duties as a father figure in Jeannette’s life. In the same way, he teaches her to be strong and independent at a very young age. As we read through the story, we see the special relationship that Jeannette shares with her father. Even though he, in many instances, failed to protect his children, refused to take responsibility for them, and even stole from them, Jeannette still loved him until his death for two reasons: one, for his ability to make her feel special, and two, because he is a never-ending source of inspiration.
While this invitation produced anxiety for every person that attended this meal, the toll that it took on my nephew was rather difficult to watch. His father chose to attend the day before Thanksgiving; but a half-hour before the scheduled 2 p.m. time for dinner, he let his son know that his girlfriend and her children had decided to come as well. While the adults scrambled to add additional seating, my nephew excitedly stood outside on the porch anticipating his guests’ arrival. An hour later, this little boy dejectedly wondered whether his father had changed his mind. When his guests finally arrived, we all ate an awkward, cold dinner, and my ex-brother-in-law whisked them all (including my nephew) away to his family’s Thanksgiving meal, which meant that my disappointed nephew never got to share the chocolate pie that he had helped make.
I am student 658454T, and I will be portraying my own character Addison. Addison is a young English girl who has recently been orphaned by her parents, abandoned by her Father and recently lost her Mother tragic death in a fire. Addison as an orphan is constantly being driven around from home to home until she comes to the ‘Ballmain Orphanage for Girls’. The haunted orphanage leaves her with an un present being watching her every nightly move. The scene is set in her dark room of the orphanage with no light but a slight crack in the roof softly illuminating the small rickety room. In the room a rocking chair is placed facing the wall opposite to the bed where Addison sits writing in her diary.
Almost every single creature of on earth raises their offspring before sending them off on their own. In the The Glass Castle, an autobiographical memoir, Jeannette Walls details her childhood experience growing up in her dysfunctional, quirky, and nomadic family. Her parents, Rex and Rosemary, fills her and her siblings, Brian, Lori, and Maureen, childhoods with bad situations for a family. This includes alcoholism, unstable jobs, unstable homes, mood swings, and poverty. However, their parents teach them many skills that would not have been acquired if they grew up in a different setting. The children are taught self-sufficiency, hard work, and compassion. Despite the hardships Jeannette had growing up with her parents, it was still in her and her siblings’ best interest to grow up with the parents they had.
I collected this urban legend from a nineteen year old male here at the University. He is a sophomore and is majoring in biochemistry. He was born in India, but moved to Phoenix with his parents, sister and two brothers. He first heard this urban legend from friends during a sleepover when he was in fifth grade. While we were standing and retelling the story, other people came up and listened to him tell the story. Afterwards, everyone agreed that they had heard this story when they were younger, but that some of the details were different. It was very interesting how one story could have so many different variations.
The Elizabethans thought that ghosts were real and that they existed. They thought that ghosts were known to walk around the streets at midnight. Either the ghosts would not speak to anyone unless they had been challenged, or then only to those who they had a message to deliver to. They also believed that crossroads, where back in Elizabethan times, criminals and suicidals were commonly buried, were the most haunted spots. In green and marshy areas, if a traveller was hanging around there, he would be sent to his doom. A large number of roads were frequently walked along by horses without heads or deadly packs of demon hounds.
At last I arrived, unmolested except for the rain, at the hefty decaying doors of the church. I pushed the door and it obediently opened, then I slid inside closing it surreptitiously behind me. No point in alerting others to my presence. As I turned my shoulder, my gaze was held by the magnificence of the architecture. It never fails to move me. My eyes begin by looking at the ceiling, and then they roam from side to side and finally along the walls drinking in the beauty of the stained glass windows which glowed in the candle light, finally coming to rest on the altar. I slipped into the nearest pew with the intention of saying a few prayers when I noticed him. His eyes were fixated upon me. I stared at the floor, but it was too late, because I was already aware that he wasn’t one of the priests, his clothes were all wrong and his face! It seemed lifeless. I felt so heavy. My eyes didn’t want to obey me. Neither did my legs. Too late I realised the danger! Mesmerised, I fell asleep.
Once they were back home, they sat at the dining table and started to eat the food. After 30 minutes her Aunt called and asked her to bring over some food. When she walked over to her Aunt’s place the air was colder, but still fresh and crispy. Once she was inside her Aunt’s place she sat down at the kitchen table and said hello to her cousins and Aunt. After grabbing a glass of water from her Aunt’s refrigerator her Aunt asked her to take care of her cousins while they went out to pick up food. She gladly said yes, even though she didn’t want to, but she knew she couldn’t complain and say no. After 10 minutes her Aunt and Uncle left to pick up the food from Boston Market and she was left alone with her cousins. When her Aunt and Uncle came back they started to cook and the house was filled with the smell of turkey, ham, pumpkin and apple pie and mash potatoes with gravy. At 4:00 pm her family came over to her Aunt's place and said hello and sat down at the dining table and waited for the food to be finished cooking. Once the food was ready they all sat down and said thank you to her Aunt and Uncle for cooking the food and talked with each other while they all ate the creamy warm mash potatoes with gravy and the warm and juicy ham and turkey. After everyone finished the food they all enjoyed the sweet and creamy pumpkin and apple pie. After finishing the dinner, everyone said goodbye
This short story has an ironic tone. When reading this short story, it is a pleasant and normal travel to a former home. Anyone can have a similar outlook when going back to a place in one’s childhood and find many thin...
a dull grey colour as if it had lost the will to live and stopped
During the twenty minutes of silent sitting, I observed several different scenes in a coffee shop. It’s interesting to look back on your own feeling and experiences in contrast to one’s seen before you. The first scene observed took place between a father and daughter. They just came back from swimming, as was obvious from their apparel, so they came into the coffee shop for a bite of ice cream. The father, engaging in conversation with his daughter, asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, for which she answered, “A dancer!” The girl, grinning from ear-to-ear, didn’t expect her father to reply “Life is hard. You’ll learn how unrealistic that is later.” The smile quickly faded from her face as she went on enjoying her ice cream. This